All Will Hail the Conquering Hero as Andy Murray Opens Wimbledon on Monday

(June 22, 2014) WIMBLEDON – Andy Murray will receive a conquering hero’s welcome when takes Wimbledon Centre Court on Monday at one o’clock as he opens to defend his 2013 title. Murray broke the 77-year-old curse, as no man from Great Britain laid claim to Wimbledon since Fred Perry won the title back in 1936.

The 2012 year was a special year for the Scotsman Murray, as he won his first major title at the U.S. Open, just after winning the gold medal at the London Olympics. Opening the Wimbledon fortnight Wimbledon will be a memorable day for the world No. 5 and third seed.

“Tomorrow when I sort of go out on the court, I need to enjoy that moment when I walk back on the court,” Murray said.

“But as soon as I start playing the match, yeah, it’s about trying to win. And, yeah, I enjoy winning. That’s it. I mean, you know, I don’t really want to go out on the court tomorrow and enjoy playing and then lose.

“I would rather, you know, enjoy a win, and that’s what I’ll try to do. But it’s time when I get on the court to start concentrating. Not think about last year, concentrate on this year’s tournament, and that’s it.”

Murray was asked about the extreme pressure he had to deal with on account of the British male Grand Slam futility. “I think I handled them fairly well,” Murray said. “This has been my most consistent tournament throughout my career. I haven’t lost before the semis for the first few years. I’d always played pretty good tennis here.

“I maybe could have played a bit better in the latter stages of the event in some of the years. But I feel in terms of handling the pressure, you know, there was a lot of it, and I think I did okay.

“Last year the final was definitely the most pressure I’d felt in all the years I’d played here. So, yeah, I managed to come through it. I think that comes with age and experience.

Questions were posed to Murray about his unique selection for his new coach, Amelie Mauresmo former No. 1 player on the WTA tour. Very few women coach male pros.

“I think, first of all, you can talk about her accomplishments on the tennis court,” Murray said of his new coach. “She won a lot. She was No. 1 in the world. She won multiple Grand Slams. She got to latter stages of slams very often.

“I think she was someone who struggled with nerves and conquered them later in her career, which I think when you start to coach someone, I think you can help more than someone that hasn’t had those issues before.

“She understands the psychological part of the game maybe more than some because of that.

“And in terms of what she’s like, her game style, she had quite a creative game style. She used a lot of spins, slices, she came to the net, good variety in her game. That’s something that I’ve always tried to use during my career. So I think she can help with that.

“And then in terms of what she’s like as a person, she’s a very, very nice person. She’s very easy to speak to. She’s very easy to communicate with. She listens well. She’s firm, as well.

“So there are the reasons why I wanted to give it a shot, and hopefully it will work out well.”

“It was about finding the right personality with the right experience to help me,” Murray stated about choosing Mauresmo.

“I think she will help me. I’ve really enjoyed the last ten days I spent on the court with her. It’s been great.

“And, yeah, if it helps sort of bring more female coaches into men’s sport and women’s sport there’s not that many female coaches on the women’s side either that’s a good thing.

“It’s possible it doesn’t work. It has nothing to do with whether she’s a woman or not. That’s not why it will work or not work. That’s how I feel about it.”

“But my mom will tell you this is history,” Murray added. “One of the coaches that I also loved when I was growing up that I traveled with was Olga Morazova. I actually saw her in the car park here the other day. I always found her great fun to be around. I learned a lot from her when I was a kid, too.

“A lot of the female coaches that I have been around. Although there’s not been many of them, I’ve always enjoyed working with them.”

Murray will face 104th-ranked David Goffin of Belgium on Monday. Murray spoke about his opponent’s good tennis in the past at big events.

“He doesn’t mind the big stage,” he said. “And, yeah, he’s solid. He’s a solid player in all parts of the court. It will be a tricky match.”